July 23, 2004
Axis of Evil: 1/3 Less Calories
Not that our work in Iraq is done, nor is the War or Terror complete, but the more the Iraqis take on themselves the more we can begin to turn our attention to their eastward neighbor. We will soon be able to count on Iraq as an ally and not a defiant member of the UN. They will play an important role as we begin to focus on Iran.
Rather than believing we went into the wrong “IRA*” country, we should be looking at the bigger picture of the War on Terrorism and cutting even more calories from our Axis of Evil diet. How far behind Libya can countries like Iran and Syria be with a significant coalition force in their neighborhood?
Hugh Hewitt believes this hinges on the re-election of President Bush and I couldn’t agree with him more.
July 23, 2004
The threat of a massive attack is growing again because the Islamists have a new --or an old but not discovered-- sanctuary from which to work. John Edwards on Larry King Wednesday night laid out so many tests for striking --the terrorist threat had to be significant, based on absolutely credible evidence, and imminent-- that we can conclude the Kerry-Edwards team will do nothing about Iran. Nothing. There's the campaign divide in a nutshell.
How imminent was the 9/11 attack on 9/10? It's not leadership to wait that long in our world today. That would mean we have learned nothing from the events of September 2001. While Kerry-Edwards can be proud of such “liberal” ignorance, our country certainly should not follow suit.
CIA points to continuing Iran tie to al Qaeda
By Bill Gertz
The commission report also said that captured al Qaeda terrorist Waleed bin Attash, known as Khallad, disclosed that Iran's government "made a concerted effort to strengthen relations with al Qaeda" after the October 2000 attack on the destroyer USS Cole in Aden harbor, Yemen.
According to the report, bin Laden rebuffed the offer from the Shi'ite regime in Iran because of fears that the cooperation would alienate Sunni supporters in Saudi Arabia.
"Khallad and other detainees have described the willingness of Iranian officials to facilitate the travel of al Qaeda members through Iran, on their way to and from Afghanistan," the report said.
Iranian border inspectors helped the terrorists by not placing travel stamps on passports, which allowed Saudi members to return to Saudi Arabia and not have their passports confiscated by Saudi authorities.
The report noted there is "evidence suggesting that eight to 10 of the 14 Saudi 'muscle' operatives traveled into or out of Iran between October 2000 and February 2001."
Intelligence information showed that senior al Qaeda leaders in Sudan during the 1990s "maintained contacts with Iran and the Iranian-supported worldwide terrorist organization Hezbollah," the report said.
